As a person of color, What schools should we not go to? Forum

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Jimlaw123

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As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by Jimlaw123 » Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:50 pm

Just wondering,

As a person of color. What schools and ranges should we not attend? I mean, everyone seems to come from the thinking that if you do go to school in the "Top 20" as a person of color, then it's a waste of time.

There are about 200 other schools, I doubt every person of color is going to Harvard.

Also, what law schools are notoriously racist, or bad, to people of color, and which should we not attend?

Just wondering. I went to a very racist undergrad. I hope to never have that experience again.. (though I soldiered through it, and graduated "cum laude"... it was hell.. not ever again)

lnsl123

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by lnsl123 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:41 am

Jimlaw123 wrote: I mean, everyone seems to come from the thinking that if you do go to school in the "Top 20" as a person of color, then it's a waste of time.
What does that mean?

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grand inquisitor

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by grand inquisitor » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:49 am

the tense confusion and capitalization scheme of your thread title indicate you should not go to law school

YBF-W

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by YBF-W » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:03 am

You'll find racism at every school, whether implicit/explicit/micro-aggressive/etc. Institutional racism knows no limits.

It may be more useful to ask about which schools have particularly supportive POC affiliation groups or alumni networks. And to answer this question, it seems most schools have listings/pages for their organizations. I would narrow down schools of interest and reach out to some of those groups to determine the work they do, the resources they're able to provide, and if you can see yourself finding a community you'll appreciate.

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Mr_Chukes

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by Mr_Chukes » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:25 pm

grand inquisitor wrote:the tense confusion and capitalization scheme of your thread title indicate you should not go to law school
He can do whatever he wants bro.

Nebby

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by Nebby » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:27 pm

Mr_Chukes wrote:
grand inquisitor wrote:the tense confusion and capitalization scheme of your thread title indicate you should not go to law school
He can do whatever he wants bro.
Don't mind him. He can't help himself

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Mr_Chukes

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by Mr_Chukes » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:28 pm

YBF-W wrote:You'll find racism at every school, whether implicit/explicit/micro-aggressive/etc. Institutional racism knows no limits.

It may be more useful to ask about which schools have particularly supportive POC affiliation groups or alumni networks. And to answer this question, it seems most schools have listings/pages for their organizations. I would narrow down schools of interest and reach out to some of those groups to determine the work they do, the resources they're able to provide, and if you can see yourself finding a community you'll appreciate.
I agree with this. Their are communities. Like Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, USC, and other schools have strong communities and are supportive. I've only heard UCLA not being supportive. Most schools are though. Even Harvard is support. I heard Irvine isn't super supportive either. Those are the only ones I've heard.

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UVA2B

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by UVA2B » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:46 pm

Mr_Chukes wrote:
YBF-W wrote:You'll find racism at every school, whether implicit/explicit/micro-aggressive/etc. Institutional racism knows no limits.

It may be more useful to ask about which schools have particularly supportive POC affiliation groups or alumni networks. And to answer this question, it seems most schools have listings/pages for their organizations. I would narrow down schools of interest and reach out to some of those groups to determine the work they do, the resources they're able to provide, and if you can see yourself finding a community you'll appreciate.
I agree with this. Their are communities. Like Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, USC, and other schools have strong communities and are supportive. I've only heard UCLA not being supportive. Most schools are though. Even Harvard is support. I heard Irvine isn't super supportive either. Those are the only ones I've heard.
I just abandoned this general point because I couldn't articulate it in a way I liked, but I think it's a good one. At UVA, a university founded by someone who openly owned slaves and could have institutional racist tendencies pretty easily (and I'm not saying they don't exist because I can't speak knowledgeably about the experience at UVA as a POC, just saying the underlying history is a bad one), we also have the top BLSA chapter in the country (at least as of this year).

I guess what I'm saying is that the struggle of underrepresented minorities in legal academia is more likely to be universal rather than isolated in a few institutions, but not from bare acts of racism. It's much more about the strength of the community at that school and the school's receptiveness to fostering that community and growing it. Some will be more or less receptive, but it's more complicated than an institutional capacity for racism.

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brinicolec

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Re: As a person of color, What schools should we not go to?

Post by brinicolec » Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:48 am

I agree with the "Racism is everywhere" sentiment. I know, personally, when I was talking to students or visiting schools, I was VERY interested in hearing about the black experience there. How was the community? Was it tight? Supportive? How were race relations? What happens when a racial topic is brought up in class? Is it handled appropriately?

A current student at UT admitted that they'd had some issues with race-related topics being brought up in class and both professors and students making insensitive remarks. They also said that they were working with admin to make things better though.

I imagine you could hear similar stories like that from minority students at most schools though because, unfortunately, it's kind of just the world we live in.

I think it's most important to focus on the community, as well as whether or not the administration is open to working towards making people feel more comfortable/accepted if something questionable is said/heard/whatever else.

Part of the reason I like Michigan is because of their outreach/efforts to try to recruit black students (even though they're a little limited b/c of no affirmative action), as well as how SOLID the black community is there. I mean, for a place that has a SMALL amount of black students, the black students that ARE there are VERY visible and none of them seemed to have any major complaints about Michigan other than the expected (The student body is very white lol, but like I said... no affirmative action).

I haven't heard any horror stories about a school being incredibly racist or unwelcoming for any minority groups though, and I hope I never do.

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